Parents.

I am not a parent. I understand that it is easy to criticize when the child and the situation is not yours. However, I also understand that a teacher gets a unique perspective on the child's life and the way in which parents influence them.

In any society that I know of, the working class has an even harder balance between family and money/work. I have several students whose parents really are not there to help with homework. Who cannot be supportive in their child's academics. I have parents who say that they cannot help because they don't know English, and I try to encourage them to help in other ways, because they can. I have other parents who cannot read, and that really does limit their ability to help, or even know if their child is doing the work.

I have many parents who expect their child to be completely self motivating. I will tell them how capable their child is, if they would just put in a little more work, they could improve by leaps and bounds, and they will tell the child to study more. To do their homework. To do whatever is lacking, but not actually do anything to help. I want to tell them that they need to help. That their 9 year old son is not going to be self motivating. That he needs to be pushed. But, I feel that is a line I cannot cross. I do not feel like I am in a position to tell parents how to be parents.

I have high achievers too. Their parents push them to do well. It's great. But there's balance to be had there as well. A 9 year old does not need to be in a world of trouble because one of her grades is below a 95. There is one particularly bright student, who is more than a handful, whose parents tell him that he doesn't need to be the best. That's okay. He doesn't need to be the best. But, they also tell him that he can fail a class, as long as he doesn't fail too many, because he can still be passed on to 5th grade with one failed class. He then comes and explains this to us when we try to get him to study.

My students call report card day “Dia de la Faja” or “Day of the Belt.”

One thing I really want to remember when I am a parent: Kids tell their teachers and their classmates your family secrets.

The Pros and Cons, though the Decision is Made

 

 I'm reached the midway point when I have a difficult time holding on to my life here. My focus is already beginning to shift to what life will be like back in the United States, and to be perfectly honest, it scares me. I know I will adjust, I know it will be fine, but I also know that it will be difficult. And at times, very sad. Leaving my students especially, will cause me to miss this place.

So, I have decided to compile a list of things I miss about living in the United States:

1. My family
2. Dishwashers
3. Clothes wash and dryer
4. Fast internet
5. Having more than 1 set of sheets (though, if I had a washer and dryer, this would be less of an issue)
6. Having more than 1 towel
7. Reliable electricity
8. Less corruption
9. Not being leered at
10. Not struggling to understand the things that are said to me
11. Fitting in
12. Reese's
13. Quiet
14. Having places to go camping
15. Easier travel
16. Smooth roads
17. Humanity toward animals and people
18. Spayed and neutered animals (the alternative is poisoning the trash once a month, or so)
19. Access to books
20. Drinking water from the tap
21. Vegetables that don't have to be bleached
22. Not wondering if every stomach hiccup is going to be another bout of food poisoning
23. Not having parasites
24. Knowing that no one will be prescribed Amoxicillian for pain
25. Being able to use a more extensive vocabulary

On the other hand, as I wrote most of these, there was an upside to the way they are here. Washing my clothes and dishes by hand is very therapeutic and forces you to slow down the pace of life. It makes you plan. I really enjoy being challenged to understand another language. It's also nice sometimes to NOT fit in. Or to know that the noise level is because of being close to everything, which is great. Travel here may take longer and be more of a hassle, but it's also really interesting. I like the cobble stone streets. I know that not everyone in the States is Humane either, and many people here are. At least I have tons of fresh vegetables. My stomach has gotten really strong. I can get antibiotics for myself easily (and I know that I won't abuse them).

Here I have the following advantages:

1. I can walk everywhere
2. Walking everywhere, means constantly running into people I know
3. I get exercise and fresh air every day!
4. The mountains are beautiful
5. The animals that we use on a regular basis, are also a part of our regular lives
6. I get to be more involved in my students' lives
7. People can holler up to my window and invite me places
8. My phone is pay as I go
9. I prepare and eat real, good food all the time
10. Life goes at a pace that I can feel and absorb the little moments
11. I've gotten to know another culture, and another people
12. 
    I've gotten to know another language
13. I have a tight community
14. I live alone
15. I have a turtle
16. Even after a year and a half (+) everything is still interesting
17. I have developed so many small, but daily relationships with the people I see
18. I learned to cook here
19. I've learned what I can live without
20. I've seen religion through the eyes of a different people
21. I've seen Americans through the eyes of a different people (both good and bad)
22. I love the flora here
23. Medical care is cheap
24. I have a gas stove top
25. I live in harmony with several types of wasps, ants, and spiders

While writing this list, I find that most of what I love I don't know how to put into words. I went to San Pedro last week, and it was amazing. There is no event or explanation that I can explain to another person, it was just the company, the feel, and the stories we shared. My life here is similar. That, and I've grown into myself here. I am stronger, more sure, more aware, and more willing. I still have many things I struggle with, but I feel like this put my life-progress on the fast tract. There's a big part of my that doesn't want to leave that, but if I stay, I'll just get comfortable, and there's more in store for me.